BJP's Bypoll Wins Add Weight To Claims Of Minority Outreach Success

It was 8 am at the BJP headquarters in Kolkata on counting day, but the scene was unlike a typical result day. There was no crowd of supporters, staff or leaders. State President Samik Bhattacharya was the first to arrive, and his tone suggested the party was confident of winning.

The first round of counting put BJP candidate Hasirani Rath ahead in Nandigram. In Rejinagar, Shankharavh Sarkar led by over 9,000 votes.

"After seeing the development led by the BJP government minority have started supporting BJP. This is the end of the minority vote-bank based divisive politics in Bengal," Bhattacharya said.

After multiple rounds of counting, Rath won Nandigram by 1,22,753 votes. 

She polled 1,64,227 votes against Congress candidate Milan Pradhan's 41,674 and the victory margin of over 1.22 lakh votes is the highest since 1967. The previous record was set by Adhikari himself in 2016, when he had won the seat for the Trinamool Congress by a margin of 81,230 votes.

Sarkar won Rejinagar by 75,748 votes. Rejinagar has a large Muslim population.

Read: BJP Sweeps Nandigram Bypoll With Record Margin, Also Wins Rejinagar

Congress finished second in Nandigram, and the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) came second in Rejinagar. Trinamool Congress candidate Rabiul Alam Chowdhury finished third in Rejinagar.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was at the 9th edition of the MeDeVision National conference at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital at around 11.30 am, when half the votes in both seats had been counted. At the start of his speech, he said: "Counting for two by elections are underway in Bengal. Pro nationalist forces are leading in both the seats."

At a press conference at Nabanna on Friday, Adhikari said an atmosphere free from fear and filled with trust had been established in the state, and that minorities were also placing their faith in the government.

"The victories in Nandigram and Rejinagar demonstrate that the people of the state stand by the current government's development policies. In Rejinagar, in particular, a significant portion of our votes came from minority voters. Attempts were made to mislead them by instilling false fears and claiming that their religious freedom would be taken away," he said.

"However, they have realized that this government works for the welfare of people across all castes, ethnicities, and religions," the chief minister added.

Adhikari said the shift of a large number of minority votes towards the BJP in Rejinagar and Nandigram followed a long-standing trend in Bengal. According to him, Bengali Muslims in the state have consistently backed the party in power, under Congress rule and for much of the 34-year Left Front tenure. He said a large section of the minority vote had likewise supported Mamata Banerjee over the past 15 years.

He said that having seen the pace of development under the BJP government over the last five months, the Muslim community in Rejinagar and Nandigram had decided to strengthen the ruling power.

The Trinamool Congress called the results a farce. "The results of the Nandigram and Rejinagar by-elections do not reflect the people's mandate. There was no need to hold the vote. Genuine voters were excluded from the electoral rolls, and genuine voters were prevented from reaching the polling booths. A reign of terror was unleashed using the police to capture booth after booth; consequently, simply declaring the BJP the winner in both seats without holding the election would have sufficed," the party said.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "No election took place in Rejinagar; it was a mockery of democracy!"

On Wednesday, AJUP chief Humayun Kabir became emotional while speaking to reporters. With tears in his eyes, he said, "The BJP will win in Rejinagar." Expressing resentment over the role of the police and administration, he hinted that he might stay away from the Assembly and even quit active politics if necessary. On the day of the verdict, he announced that he would leave politics.